Kabul suicide bombing targets clerics, kills four

KABUL, June 04 (Agencies): At least seven people were killed on Monday when a suicide bomber detonated near a gathering of top clerics in Afghanistan's capital Kabul.

Ghafor Aziz, police chief of Kabul's 5th District, says the blast was caused by a suicide bomber who detonated his explosives near the entrance of a compound where the religious body, known as the Afghan Ulema Council, was meeting on Monday.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

Around 2,000 members of the council had gathered for the meeting of the Loya Jirga, or council of elders, at a traditional tent erected for the meeting.

Earlier on Monday the council issued an Islamic ruling, or a fatwa, declaring that suicide attacks are "haram" - forbidden under Islamic law.

The Afghan Ulema Council, which includes Muslim clerics, scholars and men of authority in religion and law from across the country, issued the fatwa at a gathering on Monday in Kabul that hosted around 2,000 council members. The council appealed on both the Afghan government forces and the Taliban and other militants to halt the fighting and agree on a cease-fire.